The stamping industry is divided into two distinct fields: the art stamping field and the industrial stamping field. In the industrial field, the impression to be formed usually comprises a single word or phrase formed in a single color. The paramount considerations in the design and manufacture of industrial ink stamps and related items are durability, consistency, and ease of use. The quality of the ink impression, the flexibility of the ink stamp, and the ability to form ink impressions comprised of a plurality of colors are of minimal importance.
In the art stamping field, on the other hand, the goal is to form an artistic image. Therefore, the quality of the ink impression, flexibility of the stamping apparatus, and ability to form multi-color images are highly valued. Considerations of durability and ease of use are important, after aesthetic considerations.
Given the different goals underlying the use of ink stamps in the art stamping field and in the industrial stamping field, very few products designed for use in one field are appropriate for use in the other field. This division between the two stamping fields is accentuated by the difference in the marketing and distribution channels for the two sets of products: art stamping supplies are usually sold through art, hobby supply, or gift stores, while industrial stamping supplies are usually available in office supply outlets.
The present invention is particularly effective when used in the field of art stamping. As briefly mentioned above, in the art stamping field it is highly desirable to form a single image ink impression in which the ink impression comprises two or more colors.
For example, if the stamp is designed to form an image of a flowering plant, the user may wish to form an image in which the flower is a first color and the leaves and stem are a second color. One method of accomplishing this is for the user to arrange the ink stamp so that the image thereon faces the user. The user then takes a first sponge impregnated with the ink of the first color and dabs the ink onto the flower portion of the flowering plant image. The user next dabs ink from a second sponge impregnated with ink of the second color onto the leaves and stem of the image. The user then brings the image in contact with a sheet of paper to transfer the ink from the ink stamp to the sheet of paper. Alternatively, the ink sponge may be arranged so that it faces the user and the stamp may be brought into contact with the sponge to transfer the ink to the desired portions of the image. The ink impression formed by either of the just-described methods is a single image ink impression comprising two colors.
The sponge impregnated with colored ink is normally rectangular in shape. This shape has been employed because: (a) a rectangular sponge can be easily manufactured with little waste of sponge; and (b) the corners of such a rectangular sponge allow ink to be placed onto the image with a fair degree of accuracy.
Images formed from ink applied from such rectangular shaped ink sponges are often unacceptable. Specifically, in many instances, known ink sponges do not allow ink to be dabbed or placed onto the stamp with sufficient accuracy to prevent smearing the first color applied with the second color applied.